It may sound good, but is it true?

Hoekstra's Tough Talk

GOP gubernatorial candidate Pete
Hoekstra recently addressed a crowd about one way he'd solve the state's
reputation for not being "business friendly."

He said that if someone at the
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality inhibited economic growth projects,
he would call that employee into his office the next day and say, "Thank you
for doing your job. But I'm going to have to lay you off."

Rep. Hoekstra's point was that
the economic success of business in Michigan is tied to the success of state
government.

Sounds good. But Hoekstra's
tough talk may not get the results he envisions.

Unless that employee were a
political appointee — very uncommon in state government — a governor would have
great difficulty firing any state employee, according to Paul Kersey, director
of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

"Unless it is pretty blatant
what the employee did, odds are he is not going to succeed in having that guy
laid off," Kersey said. "You'd have to figure the union is going to file a
grievance. ... The process will take time, and
unless the official's action was blatantly wrong, odds that he'll receive more
than a wrist slap are slim."

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Kersey said Hoekstra could
transfer that employee "to an area where he does less damage, but at the same
salary and benefits."

Johnny Depp's Hair

At a House tax policy meeting
on the Michigan Film Incentive, which gives tax rebates to filmmakers who shoot
in the state, there was a discussion about the need for transparency.

Some politicians were concerned
about some of the embarrassing issues that have popped up in other states that
offer similar incentives to filmmakers.

Howard Ryan, a policy advisor
for the Senate Majority Policy Office, told a reporter after the hearing that
Wisconsin has had such a moment.

Ryan said Wisconsin's film incentive program took some heat because it had to pay for a $5,000 hair cut
for Johnny Depp. The star was in Wisconsin to film "Public Enemies."

The Wisconsin film subsidy does
cover the cost of expenses such as hairstyling. But David Fantle, chairman of
the board of Film Wisconsin, said he had never heard of the $5,000 hair cut to
cover Depp's alleged grooming.

"Not to my knowledge at all,"
Fantle said.

According to Tony Hozeny of the
Wisconsin Commerce Department, the production company spent a total of
$5,626.15 for Depp's hairstyling during the time the filming took place in
Wisconsin. The production company received a tax credit of 25 percent of that
amount, or $1,406.29.

Troy Millage Facts

Troy Citizens United has a Web
site to support the group's efforts to defeat a proposed millage increase on the
ballot Feb. 23.

Under the section on the Web
site called "Troy Spending," the site asks, "What is Troy's Government doing
now? WELL.... IT'S WASTING AND SPENDING YOUR TAX DOLLARS." The site posts the
salaries of the Michigan governor ($177,000), Oakland County executive
($176,147) and the mayor of Detroit ($176,176) in contrast to the Troy City manager's
$225,000 salary and asks "WHY???"

However, that's an
apples-to-oranges comparison.

The salaries of the other
executives being compared to the Troy City manager are only base salaries. Troy
City Manager John Szerlag makes $133,000 a year and also draws a pension, which
boosts his total compensation to $220,000. Szerlag, 59, worked for the city of
Troy for 22 years and retired before returning as the top administrator.

Elsewhere on the Web site, the
Troy citizens group acknowledges that the Troy City manager's compensation does
include a pension.

For the record, Szerlag's base
salary as a city manager was $140,000, but he voluntarily took a $7,000 cut in
October. His salary is not out of line with those of other city managers in the state.